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Post by southsidesignmaker on Feb 9, 2011 14:02:14 GMT -6
Eagledad,
The folks sitting on LSD with a couple of inches of snow may beg to differ with you, as many of them had to find other ways to complete their day's journey.
A) the district did a good job of getting students home in less than stellar weather conditions.
B) a bit of luck played into the fact that the storm started out slow, but did increase quickly in the western suburbs starting at 1:45 pm and quickly covering main arteries by 3:30 pm. At 4:00 pm traffic in most of Naperville was crawling along, thankfully many commuters were already off the roads.
C) the call at Fry school probably had a lot to do with the principal looking at a major log jam of supersized SUV's picking up little Johnny and little Jenny. Maybe when the weather gets tough the parents could "text" each other and have 10 children pile into these underutilized SUV's thus alleviating the traffic crunch. There should be little trouble as many youngsters now have "smart phones" and the parent could text their student in real time.
D) overall the district has done a very good job during this weather event. Now it is up to the parents to follow through with ideas to alleviate the traffic crunch at the middle and grade school level. With the "brain trust" we have in district this should not be an issue.
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 9, 2011 14:41:59 GMT -6
SS, you are right, the weather and traffic did deteriorate pretty badly around 4PM, more than I portrayed it. I agree that the district did a good job overall, but I think this particular decision was a poor one and not recognizing that will only repeat it.
I still think that all in all, having the kids stuck on a 14 ton yellow heated school bus with enough diesel in it to idle for days for a few extra minutes (say 30) is better than sending young elementary aged walkers out on their own into the storm with no notice to parents.
Bad choice. Individual principals should not be making it, otherwise there will be a ripple of parental chaos throughout the district.
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Post by casey on Feb 9, 2011 18:51:31 GMT -6
Obviously the principal had a huge lapse in judgment. It was a mistake but at least she acknowledged it and apologized. It's when a person tries to justify their mistakes (like my teenagers) that I get mad. I would guarantee that there's probably a memo that went around to all 204 principals after the incident of "what not to do". Lesson learned.
Given the circumstances, I'm sure the principal thought she was doing the right thing letting the kids out early. She probably figured what the heck all the Fry parents line up 20-40 minutes before dismissal so what difference would ten minutes make on the front end. The thought of K-2 kids walking around the school looking for their parents is troubling though.
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Post by incognito on Feb 9, 2011 19:58:16 GMT -6
IMO, the worst offenses occur at the middle schools. Cars are just parked all over (often directly in front of No parking, standing, stopping signs), kids run out in the street and parents are not paying attention. I've seen a lot of near-misses. My favorite is the big Cad SUV that always shows up at the last minute, doesn't wait in line and zooms up in the driving lane to pick up their baby. Why should THEY wait like the rest of us minions. My kids will be bussers all 13 years of their 204 years. And, my kids take the bus. To me there are bussers and walkers. Who ever started the 'driving the kids' to school phenom? In my elementary years I thought I wish I could be the mom who had nothing better to do than line up in the pick up lane, engines running, 1 hour before school got out. My goodness, get a life. I had to drive my son a couple days in his Still days due to crutches. I almost killed people those mornings. Now that I'm at Fischer, I have been somewhat surprised to not see a drop off/pick up line. Sure there are parents dropping off illegally- that happens everywhere, but for the most part Fischer kids do seem to be walkers or bussers. Let me know if I am off base..... |
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Post by casey on Feb 9, 2011 21:12:47 GMT -6
You're probably not way off base but recognize that everyone's story is different. Some of those so-called walkers are really anything but. In my case, my elementary kids would have had to walk just over a mile. In cold, snowy, or rainy weather? Just wasn't happening. In addition, we always had to deal with sports conflicts and getting to a practice by 4:00 would have been impossible if they walked home. I used to sit parked in the neighborhood with their clothes to change into as well as a snack and everything else and off we'd go. I also had a baby, then toddler, and then complaining 3-4-5 year old so walking wasn't much of an option. I'm always careful to not judge the cars lined up as a result because I've lived that life. Though I NEVER left my house to pick the kids up until 3:30. I just wasn't going to sit and wait 20+ minutes in line so they could avoid a slightly longer walk.
Middle school is a little bit different though and my child rides his bike daily (at least until the weather got really bad). He couldn't do that now if he wanted to as there are no cleared paths and the snow is still quite deep on sidewalks.
High school - my kids always took the bus until they started driving. I had to drive my child to Waubonsie once in her whole career and it was an experience I was glad to never have to repeat. I have a hard time understanding why HS kids can't ride the bus?
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Post by concerned2 on Feb 10, 2011 9:02:56 GMT -6
My apology for my little guy, who is way too young and will not get a cell phone until he is in middle school, was that my teacher should of gone over dismissal procedure with me. What? Didn't know there was a procedure for letting out early during a blizzard and then you don't instruct the kids to stay at the school if you don't see the person that is picking you up. No adults on the grounds to see that these kids get home safely, no crossing guards?  ? Kids were left out in the cold and blizzard!! It was just plain wrong and dangerous!!! |
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 10, 2011 12:39:05 GMT -6
My kids will be bussers all 13 years of their 204 years. And, my kids take the bus. To me there are bussers and walkers. Who ever started the 'driving the kids' to school phenom? In my elementary years I thought I wish I could be the mom who had nothing better to do than line up in the pick up lane, engines running, 1 hour before school got out. My goodness, get a life. My family has the benefit of living relatively close (say 1/2 mi from the elementary school, down one street) so my kids are and always have been walkers. If it's over 15 degrees or not downpouring, they are walking (or biking or scootering). Some days in bad weather my wife will drop them off/pick up, but even then she does it a few hundred feet away, behind the sports fields to avoid the whole mess near the school. Often she walks up to meet them (a luxury I do not get to enjoy due to work). There are other families that live much, much farther away in White Eagle (say a mile and a half) and I do not fault them or judge them at all for picking up/dropping off every day, especially the K-2 kids. I would do the same myself, however I would do it with patience and respect around a school. I think the entirety of White Eagle are defined walkers (I think there is only one bus to cover Heatherstone, and Eagle Point) as a result there is a ton of families with very circuitous routes that are walkers, so I think we get a lot of drop-offs. Then again I shovel my sidewalks and keep them clear unlike the > 50% of the a-holes around me that apparently are too lazy (or cheap) to have done it a week after the storm, causing all of our walkers to now be walking on the road. |
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